Cigarette case



F. P. HUGHES cmnmwn OAS-E WWW.

June 5, 1928.

Mfforngy. I

' the cigarettes.

U Patented June 5, 1928.

UNITED ST TES FRANCIS r. HUGHES, or PHILADELPHIA, rEimsY LvjANIA, Assienoa 'ro mulvcn'nn V HUGHES & oomrnnxor PHI-LADELPHFA;PENNSYLVANIA.

CIGARETTE 'oAsE.

Application'file dFebruary 10,1927. Serial No. 167,127.

' The object of my invention is to provide a construction of cigarette case which shall be adapted to be carried in the pocket of the user and, therefore, be as compact in thickness as possible while, at the same time, of such shape and form that the cigarettes within the same shall be subjected to no pressure such as would injure them.

A further object of myinvention is to provide the recessed space withinthe'hinged sides of the case'with pockets approximately occupying one-half the height of the recess and, at the same time, constructed with bellows folds along the bottom and extending up on the sides so'that the wall of the pocket may expand" outwardly at all portion-s'with the same facility and thus retain the cigarettes in -p'arallel" vertical position without undueflat tening pressure upon them at their ends which are received within the pocket.

With the above and othcrobjects in view,

the nature of which will be more fully understood from the description hereinafter, the invention consists inthe novel construction of cigarette .case, as hereinafter more fully described and defined in the claims.

Referring to the drawing-z Fig. 1 is an interior view of my'improvedcigarette case when fully opened; Fig. 2 is an edge'viewof the same when closed; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through one of the sides, taken on line 3-3 of-Fig. 1;'Fig. i'is a sectional view online' 44 of Fig. 1; Fig 5 is an enlarged secti0n'of 0ne end of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the inner backing wall; and Fig. 7 is a perspective.

view of one of the bellows pockets before being secured inplace. 3

The casing consists essentially of two recs tangular side frames hinged together and adapted to be held in closed; relation by a suitable catch. Each side frame is provided with a pocket for receiving and supporting As shown inJthe. drawing, the two side frames are inall material respects identical andjtherefore, thedescription ofthedetails of one ofsuch frames will equally apply 'to the other. Y 1 v;

' The side frame comprisesa rectangular metallic frame 2 whichis provided along one vertical end with hingingm'eans 3 for. connecting with the other side frame, whereas the opposite vertical-side or free end is provided with a portion ofa suitablecatch:

4 whereby the two hinged sideframes may be secured in closed relation, such as. indicatedin 'FigQ.

- The metallic; frame 2 is provided with a reinforced inner backing wall 5 which-is made ofa shape such as shown-inFig:4,- in

which the edges 5 are somewhat'curved and unite in curved corners 5, so that this inner backing: wa llfis 1 slightly cup-shaped" and, therefore, has more or less rigid resistance;

This inn er backingispreferably" formed of ;.fibre=board suitably shaped in dies and set under the application of heat and pressure,'

and may, ifdesire'd,be-reinforced byan inner paper or other suitable layer 55 0f slight ly-less area. The use 'of thisextrapaper layer 5 is to assistthe inner backing retainmg its cup-shaped form and thus insureja predetermined recessed form to the case. 3

The inner backing provides a suitable supeter, said attachmentbeing preferably by stitching,ias at -10.

- Securedto' the" lower approximate half, of

70 I port for the inner'lining 6 which maybe the inner backing is a bellows po0ket- 7,the

same comprising an outer'flat wallbounded by the bellows foldstructure 18"at itsltwo sides and also its" bottom, so that ;it is quite flexiblerelatively' to the frames-2- and; the

inner --bac kin'g 5," whereby they :lower portion ofthe said pocket may freely: expand to proexpan'sion of thelside edges -of the 'pocket. The'bellows fold- 8 terminates onthe inner side in'a flange 9 extending along the sides and bottom of the pocket',"and said flange portions are preferably" extended beyondthe outer-wall of'thepocket? andstitched to the inner backing-10 an'd' itsliningfi' by the aforesaid stitches 10,- said I stitching being vid'e in the bottom of-the poc-ket substanti'ally as much spacefasis'provided by the desirably: formed back of the metal frame portion,2, -so as to be hiddengwfor purposes .of' finish. Furthermore, .theiattaching 1 of i the 'bell0w s =pocket to the inner backing. at r a point beyond the fullavailable width of the poeket'permits'greater flexibility-of the pocket in the direction of'its expensionithan would be. the case if seating-were made immediately back of the pocket proper, and which would, in such case, shorten the length of the flange portion 9.

It will be understood that, if desired, when assemblingthe pocket 7 upon the inner backing 5 and its lining 6, prior to'the same being applied to the metallic frame 2, the said inner backing, lining and pocket flange may be secured together by glue,-to relatively position the parts, and whereby they may be subsequently stitched with less care in handling, but I do not limit myself to such mode of attachment.

For outside finish, the extreme outer cover 12-may be of leatheror other suitable materiall which isstretched over the metallic frame 2 and also over the hinge, if so desired, and theperimetcr ofthe said cover layer is suitably drawn over the metal frame 2 and tucked in, as at 13, under the same and between it and the space over the parts 9, 6 and 5, and cemented to said frame, so'that it becomes rigidly attached thereto,

as is clearly shown in Figs. 3, 4: and A suitable soft cotton orfelt layer 14% may be interposed between the outer cover; layer the sides, the flexibility is su'liiciently 12 and'the inner backing wall 5, to give a softness to the outer cover and, at the same time, is a somewhat smoother appearance than if no such vpadding were employed.

The cigarettes are indicated at 15 and, from Fig. 5, it will be seen that the pocket 7 extends outwardly at the bottom by reason of the bellows fold just as freely as it would extend outwardly at the side edges and, moreover, by slightly tilting the case, the bellows pocket and cigarettes will assume the position indicated'in dotted lines with respect to the frameproper and which will allow the'upper edges of the cigarettes to'extendbeyond the frame 2, so that they maybe readily lifted out without crushing or injury. However, the recessed portion 7 back of the pocket and in the space above it 1s amply sufficient to receive and house the cigarettes'when thecase is closed, and even though there may be a slight compression of them, such compression will be uniform throughout their length and hence without injury, such as would .occur' if the pocket were rigidly held along its lower edge against free expansion such as alone can be producedbyla bellows fold.

v By employingza pliable bellows fold along the lower edge'ofthe pocketYas well as at great to allow the weight of the cigarette to move into a suitable position for removal, as in- "dicated in-dotted lines in Fig. 5, but,'at the same time, there is no possibility'of the cigarettes dropping out unless-the case was inverted, and even under-such circumstances, the cigarettes would not fall out unless the case was inclined' sufficiently to induce'the end of the cigarette to clear the metallic frame portion. In other words, I embody in my improvement, all the advantages of a pocket and, at the sametime, provide such flexibility that no injury will result from undue pinching of the cigarette. These improvements permit the cigarettes to be easily inserted and removed while maintaining the cigarette in. its perfect condition.

lVhileI prefer to make the case as a luplicate holder of cigarettes, that is having each of the'case portions provided for-receiving cigarettes, it will be manifestthat where a relatively thinner case is desired, one of the hinged cover parts of the case may be devoid of the cigarette holding pocket and the recess for receiving the cigarettes, as my invention, in a broad sense, is embodied in one of the side portions of the case irrespective of the particular shape or configuration of the other portion of the case, and whether it is aholder of cigarettes or merely' a closure to extend over theicigarette holding case portion.

It will now' be apparentthat I'have dc vised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable,'and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferredembodiment thereof which has been found in' practice to give satisfactory and reliable results,- it is to be understood that I do notlrestrictmyself to the details, as the same :are susceptible of modification in various particulars without; departing from the spirit or scope, of the invention.

laying now described my invention, what I desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a case of the character stated, the

combination of two parts hinged'together so as to close upon each other, one at least of which partscomprises a rectangular motallicframe provided with a backiugwhereby an interior-recess is formed within the confines of thefrectangular metallic frame, and a bellows pocket having its face of greatly less area thanthe area of the recess and in which the height," and width of said pocket are respectively less than the height and width ofthe recesswithin the confines of the-rectangular metallic frame so as to be of the pocket embodies, substantially the same degree of expansibility as the side I boundary edges thereof by reason of which the cigarettes are retained within the pocket Without objectionable pinching or crushing of the lower ends thereof.

3. The invention accordingto claim 1,

wherein furtl1er,'the backing is formed of a.

stiff sheet pressed into cup-shaped form and having an outer enclosing cover extending over the rectangular metallic :trame, and in which further the flanges of the pocket are secured to the backing by means of stitching. r

4'. The invention according to claim 1,

wherein further, the backing is formed of a sheet of material pressed into approximate rigidcup shaped form and further stiifened by an interior sheet of less area cemented to the cup-shaped side of the backing so as to extend near to the bounding edges of the backing.

5. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the backing is formed of a sheet pressed into shallow cup-shaped form and .unto setmy hand.

having a lining of textile material loosely stretched over the recess side of the backing, and wherein further, the flange port-ions -degree, saidjpockets substantially meeting 45 of the vpocket are stitched to the backing and textile liningto form a rigid union.

6. In a cigarettes case of the character stated, the-fcombination of two metallic frames hinged together each of whichhas a backingso formed as to providea recess Within the confines of the metallic frame, and in which further, each of said frames isvprovided with the bellows fold pocket having'width and. height respectively less than the Width and height of-the recess within the confines of the metallic frame, each of said pockets having an expansible bellows fold connection with the backing extending along the bottom of the pocket and up each of its ends, whereby the pocket as a Whole may be "expanded or collapsed to the same over their entire exposed areas when the same are provided With cigarettes and the hinged portions upon the other. In testimony of which invention, I hereof the case. are closed one FRANCIS P. HUGHES. 

